Hospitality Today July-Aug 2016 - Page 17

hospitalitytoday.com | 17
Unite has accused hotel bosses of
“heavy-handed, anti-union bias”
over the sacking and “victimization”
of the Hungarian waiter, who had
been leading a waiters’ grievance
against the hotel’s tipping practices
and was active in Unite’s ‘union
recognition’ campaign.
“Equally, diners deserve the right to expect
that the tip they leave will indeed be paid
in full to the waiter, or at the very least
shared fairly amongst the staff.”
Linehan said many restaurants were
already adhering to the highest
standards of fairness and transparency,
but that the Government’s intervention
was welcome on the back of reports of
more opaque practices being run by a
number of businesses.
“Restaurant customers crave and deserve
transparency. Service charges are optional
and discretionary and so a continued
failure to match these expectations by
communicating clearly, will be bad for
business as, ultimately, diners will refuse
to pay them,” he added.
“The Government’s intervention is long
overdue and we would strongly support
any proposals that ensure a fairer regime
for both waiting staff and diners.”
Meanwhile the trade union Unite has
lodged a claim with the employment
tribunal over what it believes is the
unfair sacking of ‘fair tips’ activist,
Robert Czegely, a waiter at the five star
STK restaurant in the Melia ME Hotel
in Aldwych, central London.
A protest in support of the sacked
waiter was held on 6th June outside
the hotel.
Unite London regional officer for the
hospitality sector Dave Turnbull said:
“It is truly shameful that a few days
after business secretary, Sajid Javid
indicated that he would act to ensure
transparency and fairness on tips and
service charges, a global hotel chain,
such as Melia, should sack an employee
for supporting our campaign to achieve
this outcome.
“Melia proudly boasts of its ethical
business stance on workers’ rights, yet
this sacking flies in the face of any such
claims. We are clear that this dismissal
was in breach of Robert’s basic legal
right to join and participate in a trade
union.
“It also brings into sharp focus the need
for the business secretary to underpin
any regulation on tips and service charge
with additional worker protection.”